Ruling machine



2 Sheets-'Sheet l R. T. -DUFFY RULING MACHINE l Feb. 16, 1937.

.Filed `July 1, 19:55

y Q mfg Feb. 16, 1937. R, T. DUFFY v2,070,860

RULING MACHINE Filed July 1, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 vg WM5/V T0@- Patented Feb. 16, 1937 UNTD STATE@ PATENT OPFIQE.

RULING MACHENE Robert T. Duffy, Boston, Mass.

Application July 1, 1935, Serial No. 29,256

l Claims.

This invention relates to machines for ruling lines on sheets of paper and is illustrated herein by way of example as embodied in a machine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,242,823 granted Oct. 9, 1917 on an application filed in the name of Harmon E. Lindbladh.

A machine of the type referred to is provided with a series of ruling devices having pens arranged to produce parallel lines on sheets of paper. The sheets are carried under the pens by an endless conveyor comprising a cloth which travels over a pair of rolls located at opposite ends of the machine, the conveyor cloth receiving its motion from one of said rolls. The sheets are fed to the conveyor one at a time from parallel tapes traveling over tape rolls, the tapes receiving the sheets from an interconnected feeding apparatus the frame of which is located adjacent to the ruling machine. The feeding apparatus is provided with a table arranged to carry a large pile of sheets and is also provided with suction means for picking the top sheet off the pile and transferring it to the tapes which, in turn, carry it to the conveyor. As the pilel of sheets diminishes the table is elevated automatically by mechanism which operates intermittently to maintain the top of the pile at a predetermined level so that the suction means can operate satisfactorily thereon. It is essential in machines of this character that the conveyor move at a uniform rate of speed and that the ruling devices operate smoothly and without stagger if good results are to be obtained. The intermittent elevation of the table, however, especially when it is carrying a large pile of sheets and is under a heavy load, will have a tendency to produce a fluctuation of power caused by the varying resistance of the feeding apparatus which is apt to be transmitted to the ruling machine to which the feeder is attached. This fluctuation often interferes with the smooth operation of the ruling means and the uniform movement of the conveyor so that ragged, irregular or even broken lines may be produced. i

Objects of the present invention are to provide improved means for operating sheet feeding mechanisms of ruling machines in such a manner that the difficulties referred to above are eliminated and to provide improved means for controlling the operation of the suction means of such mechanisms.

To this end and in accordance with a feature of the invention there is provided improved means for transmitting power from the ruling machine to the feeding apparatus which, by avoiding direct connection with the conveyor and the ruling mechanism, eliminates the possibility of fluctuations caused by the intermittent movement of the feeder table affecting the uniform action of those mechanisms. As illustrated, the drive for the conveyor and ruling devices comprises a chain of gears operated by a main driving shaft which, in turn, is driven from a motor. The means for driving the feeding mechanism receives its motion from this chain of gears so that no such connection exists between the drives for the ruling machine and the feeding mechanism which permits the variable resistance offered by the feeding mechanism to be transmitted to the conveyor or ruling means. The drive for the feeding mechanism is made positive through a shaft and gears which mesh with gears on the feeding mechanism, the last named gears being `constructed and arranged to operate the table elevating mechanism and the suction means intermittently and in timed relation to each other.

In order that the operation of the suction meansY may be controlled at will by the operator of the machine the invention also provides, in accordance with another of its features, improved means for starting and stopping said suction means independently of the power drive of the machine. As herein illustrated, a clutch is provided for stopping and starting the suction means and this clutch may be thrown into and out of operative engagement by means arranged for convenient manipulation by the operator. In this way the operation of the suction means may be stopped almost instantaneously whether or not the power drive for the ruling machine is thrown out of operation, thereby permitting the operator to prevent additional sheets from being fed to the conveyor rolls until those on the tapes have been presented thereto, as, for example, when it is desired to limit the ruling of the sheets to those that have been picked off the pile at any given time.

With the above and other objects and features in view, the invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

waste Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a ruling machine Patent No. 1,242,823 referred t0 above is provided with a frame l0 having mounted thereon for independent movement relatively to the frame a set of ruling devices or pens l2 for ruling lines on sheets of paper. 'I'he sheets are carried under the pens by an endless conveyor cloth i3 which receives its motion from a cloth roll l!! journaled in the frame and cooperating with a feed roll lli t0 advance the sheets on the conveyor. A plurality of cams (not shown) is provided on a cam shaft I8 for controlling the movements of the pens and, as illustrated herein, the rolls lll and I6, and the cam shaft lll are driven from a main driving shaft 20 which, in turn, is driven by a motor 22 through intermediate gearing 24. The driving shaft 28 is mounted in bearings in the frame l5 and carries at its opposite ends bevel gears 26, 28 the rst of which meshes with a bevel gear 30 on a second driving shaft which may, if desired, be utilized for driving a second ruling machine located at right angles to the first machine, this arrangement being usual in machines of this character for ruling sheets both lengthwise and crosswise and being known as an L-type machine.

The gear 23 on the opposite end of the drive shaft 20 meshes with a bevel gear 32 mounted on a transverse shaft 35i journaled in the frame. Forwardly of the bevel gear 32, as Viewed in Fig. 1, Vthe shaft 34 carries a spur gear 36 which, through a small idler gear 38, drives a second gear 40 fastened to the end of the conveyor roll lli, the 'gears 36 and 46 being of the same diameter and rotating at the same speed. The gear 40 meshes with a larger gear 42 mounted on a shaft 44 journaled in the upper portion of the frame and -the gear 42 meshes with a gear SS secured to the cam shaft i8, thereby driving this shaft at the proper speed to cause the cam operated mechanism to actuate the pens I2 in the desired manner. The gear 4E! on the conveyor roll I4 also meshes with a small gear 48 on the end of the feed roll I6, 'the size of the gear i8 being such that the surface speeds of the feed roll and the conveyor roll are the same.

The foregoing description deals chiey with the drives for well-known elements of a conventional ruling machine and, since further details of the machine are unnecessary for a proper understanding of the invention, no further description will be given and reference may be had to the patent referred to for a more complete description of the machine.

Referring now to the apparatus with which the ruling machine is provided for supplying sheets to the conveyor in order that they may be ruled, which apparatus is also a well-known part of a conventional ruling machine and accordingly will be described briey, a pair of upright posts or standards 5) mounted in a base 54, and a second pair of standards 52 (Fig. 2) mounted in the opposite side of the base carry at their upper ends stationary frame members 55, 5l. Between the standards and journaled in the base and the frame members are long vertical screws 58, 59 the threads 0f which are 'pitched at opposite angles. Slidably mounted on the standards are supporting members 5B having projections 5I through which the screws 58, 59 are threaded and having inwardly extending ribs on which is secured a large horizontal table 62 arranged to carry a pile of paper the individual sheets of which are to be supplied successively to the feed rolls of the conveyor apparatus. At its lowest position on the screws 58, 59 the table l62 can carry a large pile of sheets sometimes weighing in the vicinity of eight or nine hundred pounds. The supporting members and table 62 are raised intermittently on the screws 58, 59 to present the sheets to a suction wheel or drum |54 mounted on a hollow shaft 63 and provided with a perforated portion 65 (Fig. 3) through which a suction device 6l operates to pick off the sheets one by one from the pile and transfer them to a plurality of parallel tapes T running over a tape roll 66 (Fig. 1) and another roll (not shown) adjacent to the cloth roll Ill on the ruling machine, the tapes T operating to transport the single sheets to the conveyor apparatus and thence to the ruling devices. A narrow guide roll 69 riding on the tape roll 65 assists in transferring the sheets from the suction Wheel to the moving tapes. It will be seen that since the table is raised intermittently to present the top sheet of the pile to the suction wheel 64, the weight of the paper on the table, especially when the table is near its lowest position and under a heavy load, would have a tendency to cause a iiuctuation or jerking movement of the feeding apparatus upon each elevation of the table sufflcient to prevent a smooth ruling action of the pens if there were any direct connection between the cam-operated mechanism that operates the ruling pens and the means which elevates the table. Likewise, the intermittent heightwise movement of the table would interfere with the uniform movement of the conveyor if the connection between the drives for these two mechanisms were such that the periodic movement of the table could be transmitted to the conveyor. To prevent lany staggering movement of the conveyor or the ruling pens through fluctuations of the power which operates their controlling mechanisms regardless of the load on the table as it moves upwardly step vby step, the following arrangement has been provided.

As described in Letters Patent No. 1,894,622 granted Jan. 17, 1933 on the application of Harmon E. Lindbladh, the table 52 of the feeder mechanism is raised intermittently by rotation of a ratchet wheel 58 fastened to a transverse shaft il? vrotatably mounted in the frame members 55, 5l. The shaft 'l0 carries at one end a bevel gear (not shown) which meshes with another bevel gear 12 (Fig. l) secured to the upper end of the vertical screw 58. At its opposite end the shaft lll carries another bevel gear 'l5 (Fig. 2) which meshes with a similar gear 'i6 secured to the upper end of the vertical screw 59. When the shaft is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, the screws 58, 59, turn and the supporting members Bil are raised to elevate the table 52 and move the pile of sheets, indicated in Fig. 2 by the letter S, into a heightwise position which permits the suction wheel 65 to pick oif the top sheet and transfer it to the tapes T. The intermittent rotation of the screws is relatively slight and the table is raised each time only a distance corresponding approximately to the thickness of a sheet of paper. Since afresh sheet is fed to the tapes in relatively rapid rotation during the normal operation of the machine, these intermittent heightwise movements of the able will occur in quick succession.

Behind the ratchet wheel 68, as viewed in Fig. 2, the shaft 'lil has loosely mounted thereon a substantially vertical lever 'i8 the upper end of which has loosely pivoted thereon a pawl arranged to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel. 'I'he lower end of the lever 13 carries a screw 8? which slides in a longitudinal slot 8f formed in the vend of a crank arm 86. The other end of the crank arm is pivotally connected by a pin 88 to a rotatable disk or crank 90 mounted on the tape roll 3S, the pin 88 being located eccentrically on the disk 90 so that the rotation of the latter imparts the desired movement to the crank arm. The lever "i0 Valso has a laterally extending arm 92 the outer end of which is weighted and tends to urge the lever in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, the arm 82 normally engaging a stop screw 94 which limits its clockwise movement. When the crank arm 86 is moved to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, the screw 82 slides along the slot 84 and the friction thus created, together with the weight of the arm 92, swings the lever 18 about its pivot in a clockwise direction, thereby moving the pawl toward the right and over a tooth on the ratchet wheel. Upon reverse movement of the crank arm, the lost motion in the slot 84 being taken up, the screw 82 engages the right hand end of the slot and moves the lever 'i8 in the opposite direction sufficiently to turn the ratchet wheel a distance approximately equaly to the width of a tooth. In this way the vertical screws are turned slightly to elevate the table a few thousandths of an inch, thereby maintaining the top sheet of the pile in a proper position to be acted upon by the suction wheel 84. The mechanism just described is actuated automatically in the normal operation of the machine and is controlled by further mechanism indicated in Fig. 2 by the numerals 95 and 91, this mechanism being more fully disclosed in Patent No. 1,894,622 referred to above. 'I'he table 82 may be lowered either manually by a crank (Fig. 2) secured to the shaft 10, or by power furnished by the motor 22. To lower the table by power the shaft 1.0 carries on its forward end a clutch comprising a driving member 8'! (Fig. 1) rotating constantly on the shaft 'l0 and a driven member 98 keyed to the shaft and movable into and out of engagement with the driving member 9'! by a yoked lever |00 pivoted to the frame member 56 at |02 and having a handle |04 whereby it may be moved about said pivot. The constantly rotating clutch member 91 has a bevel gear |05 formed thereon through which it is rotated, as will be later explained, and, when the clutch members are thrown into operative engagement, the shaft 10 is rotated in a direction opposite to that in which it is rotated by the ratchet wheel7 thereby turning the screws 58, 59 to lower the table. The handle |04 has a chain |08 connected thereto the other end of which is fastened to a vertical rod H0 guided by a lug on the member 60 and having nuts ||2 threaded on its lower end which act as a stop. When the descending table engages the nuts the rod is lowered and the yoked lever |00 moved to throw the clutch members out of driving engagement. The manner in which the driving member 9i' of the clutch, the disk 38 and the suction wheel 64 are driven from the motor 22 without causing any vibration or jerking movement of the conveyor, ruling pans and associated mechanism on the ruling machine will now be explained.

Bolted to the frame l0 (Fig. l) adjacent to the gear 30 is a bracket ||4 which forms a bearing for a short horizontal shaft |40. On its left hand end the shaft I0 carries a bevel gear i I8 which meshes with a larger bevel gear |20 secured on the transverse shaft 34 which is driven by the shaft 20 as previously described. The other end. of the shaft H6 is connected by a universal joint |2| to the end of a drive shaft |22 which extends upwardly at an angle to the horizontal and at its upper end is connected by another universal joint |23 to the end of a relatively small shaft |24 journaled in bearings |26, |28 formed on the frame member 58. The shaft. |24 has a bevel gear |30 pinned thereon which meshes with a similar gear |32 secured to th-e end of the tape roll 86, the opposite end of this roll carrying the crank or disk 90 as explained above. It will be seen that the disk 90 and crank arm 86, which operates the lever 18 and, through it, the ratchet wheel 68 to effect intermittent motion of the table 62, are thus driven by mechanism which has no direct connection with the drives for the conveyor roll I4 and the shaft I8 which carries the cams that control the operation of the ruling pens l2. In other words, the connection between the drives for elevating the table and for the conveyor and ruling pens is a remote connection branching olf from the main drive shaft 20. Consequently, any shocks caused by the intermittent elevation of the table cannot be transferred to the conveyor and ruling pens because the backlash of the gearing separating these two drives progressively reduces such shocks until they are entirely absorbed and eliminated.

'Ihe upper end of the shaft |24 has secured thereon a bevel gear |34 which meshes with the gear teeth |00 formed on the forward face of the constantly rotating clutch member 91 referred to above. In this way power is also provided from the motor 22 for driving the shaft 10 in a direction to lower the table S2 by power without any direct connection with the conveyor roll or the cam shaft.

Intermediate of its ends the shaft |24 carries a spira-l gear |36 which meshes with a spiral gea-r` |38 loosely mounted on the hollow shaft 63. A small shaft |40 extends through the shaft 63 and projects beyond the end thereof, as viewed in Fig. 1, the shaft |40 being keyed to the shaft 63 by a key |4|. The gear |38 has formed on one face a clutch member (Fig. 3) and another clutch member |42 comprising the driven element is secured by the key |4| to the shaft |40. The shaft |40 is movable longitudinally inside the hollow shaft 83 to bring the driven clutch member |42 into operative engagement with driving member or gear |38 and thus rotate the shaft |40 which, in turn, rotates the hollow shaft 63 and the suction wheel 64 mounted thereon. Longitudinal movement of the shaft |40 relatively to the shaft 63 is effected by means of manually operated means best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

Slidably mounted in lugs on the frame of the ruling machine is a horizontal rod |44 which extends toward the feeding apparatus and is connected to a depending arm |48 held loosely against a shoulder on the inner shaft |40 by lock nuts |41, a reduced portion of the shaft |40 extending beyond the end of the hollow shaft 83 and having a bearing in the hub of the arm |46. A curved or spiral slot |48 is formed in the hub portion of the arm |46, the major portion of the slot extending in a longitudinal direction relatively to the shaft |40. A screw |50 (Figs, 2 and 3) is threaded through the frame 5l and the end of the screw extends into the slot |48. When the arm |48 is rotated in one direction (counter clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 2) through movement of the manually controlled rod |44, the thrust motion produced by the screw |50 in the spiral slot causes the hub of the arm |46 and the shaft |40 to move longitudinally relatively to the hollow shaft 63 a distance sufficient to bring the two clutch elements into driving relation thereby rotating the shaft |40 and the shaft 63 keyed thereto. When the rod |44 is moved by the operator in the opposite direction the shaft |40 moves longitudinally to separate the clutch elements and thus stop rotation of the shafts 63 and |40. In this way the suction wheel 64 can be started and stopped practically instantaneously and at the will of the operator at any stage in the operation of the machine.

There now remains to be described the mechanism for controlling the suction means which causes the suction wheel 64 to pick the top sheet from the pile of paper and transfer it to the tapes T. As described in Patent No. 1,894,622 referred to, the vacuum or suction is created by a hose connected at one end to a vacuum pump or other suction device and at its other end to a boss |5| adjacent to an air valve (Fig. l) 1ocated at one end of a pipe |54 (Fig. 2) which connects with the suction member 61. The valve |52 is pivoted on the frame member 56 at |56 (Fig. l) and is arranged for movement toward and away from the open end of the pipe |54.

The air valve |52 has a laterally extending arm |58 (Figs. 1 and 3) provided at its outer end with a roll l 6|] arranged to engage a cam |62 mounted on the end of a short horizontal shaft |64 journaled in bearings in the frame 56. The opposite end of the shaft |64 is connected by a universal joint |66 to a shaft |68 extending upwardly at an angle toward vthe ruling machine. The shaft |68 is supported in bearings formed on the ruling machine and is connected at its upper end by means of another universal connection to a bevel gear |10 which meshes with a bevel gear |12 se-` cured to the cam shaft I8 rearwardly of the spur gear 46, as viewed in Fig. 1. The timing of the mechanism is such that lthe high part of the cam |62 lifts the valve |52 away from its seat against the end of the pipe |54 at the time the suction should cease to cause the suction. wheel to deposit a sheet of paper upon the tapes T. The valve is closed to cause the suction device to operate When the neXt sheet is to be lifted from the top of the pile.

The roll is mounted on a pin |14 which projects laterally beyond the roll and is in a position to be engaged by a surface formed on the driven clutch member |42 when the latter moves with the shaft |45 longitudinally of the hollow shaft 63. When the operator moves the rod |44 into the position shown in Fig. 2 to disengage the clutch members and stop rotation of the suction Wheel 64, the surface on the clutch member |42 engages the pin |14 and moves the valve |52 away from the end of the pipe |54. This opens the vacuum system so that no vacuum can be created and the suction device cannot operate.

It will be seen from the foregoing that regardless of the weight of the paper that the table 62 of the feeding mechanism may be carrying, the fluctuation of power caused by the relatively rapid intermittent movement of the ratchet wheel 63 and table 62 cannot be transmitted to the conveyor roll I4 of the ruling machine or to the cam operated mechanism which actuates the ruling pens. Moreover, since the tape rolls, suction wheel and valve mechanism are all operated through power coming from the drive shaft 20 of the ruling machine and having no direct connection with the conveyor roll I4 and cam shaft i8, these mechanisms cannot cause any stagger or liuctuation of power which can detrimentally affect the uniform movement of the conveyor roll or the smooth action of the ruling pens. Consequently, the lines ruled on each sheet of paper Will be smooth and straight without any irregularities to mar the appearance of the sheet.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:--

1. A machine for ruling sheets of paper having, in combination, a plurality of ruling devices and means for advancing sheets to said ruling devices, sheet-feeding apparatus having a movable support for a stack of sheets and means for intermittently elevating said support, a main driving shaft, actuating connections to the driving shaft individual to the ruling devices and sheet advancing means, and actuating connections to the driving shaft individual to the support-elevating means.

2. A machine for ruling sheets of paper having, in combination, a plurality of ruling devices, a conveyor for moving sheets of paper past said ruling devices, means for supporting a stack of sheets, means for feeding sheets from the stack to the conveyor, power operated means for moving the conveyor at a uniform speed, mechanism for elevating the supporting means intermittently as the sheets are fed from the stack, and means separated from the conveyor for driving said mechanism from said power operated! means while maintaining the uniform speed of the conveyor.

3. A machine for ruling sheets of paper having, in combination, a plurality of ruling devices, a conveyor for advancing sheets to said ruling devices, a table for supporting a pile of sheets, means for feeding the sheets separately from the pile to the conveyor, means for moving the conveyor at a uniform rate of speed, a motor for actuating said moving means, mechanism for elevating the table intermittently as sheets are fed from the pile, and means driven from said motor without direct connection with the conveyor for operating said elevating mechanism, thereby preventing the intermittent motion of the table from being transmitted to the conveyor.

4. A machine for ruling sheets of paper having, in combination, a plurality of ruling devices, a conveyor for moving sheets to be ruled past said ruling devices, feeding mechanism for supplying sheets successively to the conveyor, said feeding mechanism being provided with a table constructed and arranged to support a large stack of sheets, means for picking off the top sheet from the stack and transferring it to the conveyor, mechanism operating intermittently for elevating the table as the stack of sheets diminishes in size, a motor, gearing driven by said motor for actuating the conveyor at a uniform rate of speed, connections from said gearing for operating the ruling devices, said connections causing the ruling devices to operate smoothlyv on the sheets, and a shaft rotated by said gearing for actuating the intermittently operating mechanism while maintaining the uniform speed of the conveyor and the smooth action of the ruling devices.

5. A machine for ruling sheets of paper having, in combination, a plurality of ruling devices and means for advancing sheets to said ruling devices, sheet-feeding apparatus having a movable support for a stack of sheets and means for intermittently elevating said support, a main driving shaft, a gear secured to said shaft, a

chain of gears rotated by said gear and connected to the ruling devices and sheet-advancing means t0 actuate them, a single gear separate from the chain of gears rotated by the gearing shaft, and a shaft rotatable by the last-mentioned gear and joined to the support-elevating means to actuate it.

6. A machine for feeding sheets of paper having, in combination, means for supporting a pile of sheets, suction means for picking a sheet from the top of said pile, means for driving said suction means, a clutch for actuating said driving means, and means for throwing the clutch out of operative engagement at any stage in the operation of the machine and thereby stopping the rotation of said suction means substantially instantaneously.

7. A machine for feeding sheets of paper individually from a pile having, in combination, a table for holding a large pile of sheets, a hollow shaft, a suction wheel mounted on said shaft for picking off the top sheet from the pile, tapes for transferring the sheet from the pile, a constantly rotating clutch member loose on said hollow shaft, a shaft inside said hollow shaft, a clutch member on said inside shaft, means connecting said shafts, and manually-operated means for moving the inside shaft longitudinally of the hollow shaft to move said clutch members into and out of operative engagement, thereby starting and stopping rotation of the suction wheel at will while the operation of the associated elements of the sheet feeding mechanism continues.

ROBERT T. DUFFY. 

